White women are more likely to protect other white women.

There's a quote by writer Flavia Dzodan that says "my feminism will be intersectional or it will be [BS]." This basically means that in order for feminism to be really, truly feminist, it has to include all women of all backgrounds, races, cultures, religions, classes, abilities, sexual orientation, and gender identities. White women often fail to make their feminism intersectional, creating what's known as "white feminism" — or the misguided system of belief that doesn't take multiple systems of oppression into consideration. A new report shows how white women may turn a blind eye in situations where black women are at risk of sexual assault, even though they would help other white women in the same situation.

A study published in the journal Psychology of Women Quarterly found that white women in college may be less likely to intervene when they see a black woman at risk of being sexually assaulted than they would if there were a white woman in danger, even though they recognize the risk in both cases.

According to PsyPost, researchers presented 160 white female college students with a scenario in which a sober man was taking a clearly drunk woman into a bedroom during a party. In some cases, researchers told the subjects the name of the woman in danger was Laura or Teresa, while they told other subjects that the woman's name was LaToya or Tanisha. The subjects who were presented with a generic name felt personal responsibility to intervene, while those who were presented with a name that they perceived to be associated with a black woman said they felt less personal responsibility to help the woman stay safe. In other words, the white college students seemed more likely to help another woman at risk of sexual assault if they thought she was white, but not as likely to intervene when they thought she was black.

"We found that although white students correctly perceived that black women were at risk in a pre-assault situation, they tended not to feel as personally involved in the situation," researchers Jennifer Katz and Christine Merrilees of the State University of New York at Geneseo told PsyPost. "In broader terms, it seems as if bystanders need to psychologically identify with the potential victim in order to feel they have an obligation to become involved, and racial/ethnic differences impede this identification."

According to a pamphlet from the Women of Color Network, women of color are more at risk for sexual violence because of the racist attitudes that have held strong for decades. The pamphlet notes that sexual assault is underreported, particularly for black women. And because of their race, black women who are sexually assaulted may have a hard time accessing resources and support services.

At the Women's March, some were quick to point out that white women have not always stood up for black women. Ijeoma Oluo, editor at large at the site The Establishment, called this out on Twitter:

"For all my black and brown women who can't help but look at crowds of millions of women and wonder, Where were you when our babies were being shot in the streets, locked away in prison, deported away from the only home they've known?" Oluo writes."For all my black & brown women who can't help but imagine how many of their brothers & sisters and sons & daughters & husbands and partners could have been saved if our oppression and our murder could have inspired 1/10th this level of action and care."

It shouldn't take a study to make people aware of an issue that black women have been talking about for a long time, but the study's authors hope that those who might not have listened before will now take heed.

"We know that it is often challenging for white people (like ourselves) to think deeply about issues related to race and campus climate. Such thoughts and conversations often elicit negative emotions such as guilt, defensiveness, or anger," said the authors to PsyPost. "We hope that studies such as ours will help encourage awareness in a way that elicits positive intentions to overcome potentially unconscious biases. We believe to the degree that white students are more mindful about how race/ethnicity may affect their perceptions and behavior, they are more likely to behave in a genuinely inclusive way."